


Never Thought We'd Be Here

by ReadingIsEverything



Category: Orange is the New Black
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-15 21:52:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13622376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReadingIsEverything/pseuds/ReadingIsEverything
Summary: Piper Chapman and Alex Vause met in kindergarten. This work chronicles their eventual shift from friends to something much deeper than either of them could have anticipated. Please enjoy and leave comments please. :)





	1. Hi, I'm New Here

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I'm back. I will put up a one-shot in the Blindsided verse soon, but for now yes, I have finally been bitten by the Orange Is The New Black bug. A little late to the game, right? :) Well, in any case, I hope you enjoy this work. Okay, here we go!

The playground of the elementary school was crowded. It was filled with the delighted shrieks of little kids as they ran around playing and having fun. It was the first day of kindergarten and they were too nervous to talk to each other. They were not, however, to nervous to play, as young children often weren’t. They slid down the slides and played with red rubber balls and just generally made merry.

There was one girl, however, that was not having fun with the rest of the children. She was blonde with blue eyes and a scared expression. She stood on the sidelines, her hand held in the much larger hand of a stately-looking woman who appeared middle-aged and entirely too bored with it all. She watched the kids warily, as if she was afraid that one of them was going to come up and wipe their hands on her slacks or something. Beside the woman stood a tall man, also appearing middle-aged, holding the little blonde’s other tiny hand and looking more at ease. The girl had always had a deeper connection with her father than her mother. Her father had time to play catch and tickle monster with her after work, while her mother just wanted her to play dress-up and talk about how the other little girls in the neighborhood wouldn’t hold a candle to her beauty once she started kindergarten. Needless to say the pair of them kept the games of catch and tickle monster a secret from the harsh disciplinarian that was Carol Chapman.

“Are you nervous, sweetie?” Bill asked his daughter, smiling Kindly down at her. The little girl, whose name was Piper, nodded mutely.  
Bill loved his daughter, and he had a special way of finding out what was bothering her. He crouched down to her level and gently tucked a hand under her chin. “Why?”  
Bill, unlike his wife, was one of those parents who believed in actually listening to his child’s grievances instead of shoving them down, sweeping them under the rug like they didn’t exist at all. Carol, on the other hand, believed in painting her family as this perfect portrait, unmarked and unflawed in any way whatsoever.

Piper looked up at her father, the anxiety she was feeling clearly visible to the older man on her face. “I’m scared they’re gonna be mean,” she confessed quietly, her cheeks tinged with red. Her father grinned down at her. “It’s okay, Pipes. You’re gonna be just fine. I promise, okay?”  
Piper’s dad never lied to her. He told her it was because there was absolutely no reason to lie to her. Even when there had been a time where the family was sure he was going to lose his job at the law firm, he had kept calm, but he had told his daughter with more openness than most parents of a child as young as her that things were rough. Most parents liked to shelter their children from the harsh realities of life. Bill told his daughter all through her life that it was better for one to know about the harsh realities so they could be prepared to face them, instead of running away and hiding from them.

Piper looked around until she saw another little girl sitting alone at the edge of the group, playing with a few blades of grass. She sat a little ways away from the girl, who had black hair and watched her with fascination. She had never seen someone so interested in grass before. Her mom told her grass was dirty and to stay away from it, but the way this other little girl was playing with it was like she was playing with an old friend.  
It was the little girl who made the first move in the end. She saw the little blonde watching her and she figured what could it hurt? Her mom told her to always play with everyone, especially if they looked particularly nervous or lonely. This little blonde looked kinda outa place.

The little black-haired girl walked over to Piper and sat down right next to her. Piper jumped, a little startled. Had she been caught? Her mom always said to never stare at people because it’s rude, but Piper wasn’t trying to be rude. She was just interested. She didn’t mean to be rude. She reached up to cup her cheeks in distress, but she forgot there was dirt on her hands, she had been absently touching it, even though it was dirty. She hadn’t meant to do it, but something about the little girl with black hair being so comfortable with the ground had made the little blonde want to try and dip her toes in the water, metaphorically, of course.

The little black-haired girl cleared her throat. “Hi, you look sad. Do you want to play with me?” She asked, her tone friendly and her smile warm as she looked at Piper. The blonde nodded her head, a mix of nervousness and excitement shooting through her.  
The other little girl held out a dirty hand to shake. Piper examined the hand for a second The fingernails looked a little bitten down and there was dirt all over the fingers and palm. 

“Hi, I’m Alex,” the little girl said, still with that smile making Piper feel oddly warm. She remembered her mom’s warnings about all the germs that came from touching dirty people, but then she remembered she had dirt on her hands too. Piper also knew her mom wouldn’t really approve of Alex, since she was wearing raggedy clothes and her hair wasn’t braided into two pigtails on either side of her head like Piper’s. Her mom liked the perfect portraits her friends made with their daughters, which was something Carol herself did.

Piper remembered all of this, and she promptly put it aside and shook Alex’s tiny hand. “I’m Piper,” she said. She skipped the “how do you do” part of the introduction, since she figured Alex wasn’t that type of person.   
Alex grinned even wider, revealing gaps where there were two missing teeth. “Hi, Piper. You wanna play in the sandbox?”  
Alex’s words flowed without care for grammar or proper elocution. Piper’s mom had made her take elocution lessons since she could talk, which was since the age of about two. The little blonde admired Alex’s lack of care about such things.

“Sure, I wanna play in the sandbox with you,” she answered, noting the new way of speech and oddly enjoying it.   
Alex grinned. As she walked with Piper at her side holding her hand, neither of them knew what they had set into motion.


	2. The Invitation And The Start Of A New Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper has a very important event to attend. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiii. I'm baaaack! Okay, I really hope you enjoy this next chapter. Sorry if it sucks. Okay, here we go!

Alex held Piper’s hand as the pair of them made their way over to the sandbox. Alex sat down in the sand, exuding confidence like she’d been there a million times before. Her mom worked a lot, so she brought Alex to the park two blocks down from their apartment whenever she could, sometimes letting her stay there by herself while she worked so the little girl wouldn’t be cooped up in the house all day. She trusted Alex, which was kind of rare among parents.

Piper, meanwhile, looked a little apprehensive and unsure. She had gone to the park a few times with her dad, but they had only really played catch. Her mother had only let her play tea party and other games that were acceptable for mini socialites. Piper didn’t know exactly what to do with the sand. Did she have to eat it? It didn’t look very good, but maybe that was the game. Jason two streets away from her had eaten snails once. But he was a boy…

A small, warm hand laid itself over her own. The blonde turned her head to see Alex smiling reassuringly at her. “Relax, kid. I’ll show you how to play,” she said softly. It registered years later with Piper how odd it had been that Alex had called her kid when they had in fact been the same age, but at the moment the little girl was smiling back because Alex didn’t look mean like Piper had thought she would. Piper had expected her to make fun of her for being sheltered or not knowing how to play. Even at that age, Piper had met a couple of kids in her elite day care program whose parents weren’t as sheltering as her mom. They had teased her to tears, and the teachers had just hugged her and said that proper little girls didn’t cry over trivial things. When Piper got older, she realized how mean that had actually been, but at the time she hadn’t really understood it. She had thought it was normal for adults to say things like that.

She did, however, understand Alex’s kindness from the first moment.  
The black-haired girl took Piper’s slightly smaller hands and placed them on a pile of sand. “Take the sand in your hands like this,” she instructed as she scooped up two handfuls of sand and shaped them. Soon, she was showing Piper how to make complex castles and figures entirely out of sand, and she made it look as easy as drawing a straight line. Piper hung on to the other girl’s every word, a worshipper watching her goddess. Even then, Piper chapman idolized Alex Vause. It was just that it took a while for them to really realize it or understand just what it really meant.

The pair of them spent a while building this intricate structure and Piper could feel her face hurting from how very much she was smiling, though she found she really didn’t care about the pain or mind it. In fact, she didn’t really notice it. It was just there, in the bak of her mind.  
“It’s beautiful, Alex,” Piper whispered, her voice filled with awe. She had never thought she could be part of making something so marvelous, yet that was exactly what she had done. 

Alex grinned at her as she scooped up another handful of sand. Piper was just about to protest and say that the sculpture looked perfect and they didn’t need to add anything else, but then she felt the sand slide down her shirt, her back covered in the stuff. Another handful made its way into her hair and a last handful found its home in the front of her shirt.  
“Now it’s perfect,” Alex giggled, and Piper couldn’t help herself. She laughed out loud, not the practiced chuckle she had learned in Miss Catherine’s lessons, but the whooping, hiccuping laugh of someone who was utterly, deliriously euphoric and overjoyed.  
She reached down and threw a clod of sand at Alex, watching it disappear into the dark hair at Alex’s back.  
The slightly taller girl grinned at Piper. “It’s on!” She exclaimed. Before Piper knew it, they were in an intense sand-hurling contest. Alex won, but only because she was too nervous and afraid of hurting Alex to actually cause real damage and throw a whole lot of sand. At least that’s what Piper told herself afterwords. Even then, they should have known it was something else.

After that, Piper followed Alex over to a woman who was waving enthusiastically at the pair of them. If looks were anything to go by, she was Alex’s mom. Alex sure seemed to trust the stranger. She dashed across the grass and flopped down next to the woman on the blanket that was spread out on the soft grass.  
The woman was tall, but she looked just a little tired. Piper was not used to adults looking that tired. Her mom never did, anyway. Maybe this woman was sick or something? The blonde made a mental note to herself to ask her new friend later.

The woman turned out to be really nice. Piper had guessed right, she was Alex’s mom. She wasn’t like most grown-ups the little blonde knew, though. For one, she cursed openly and she didn’t ask Piper to call her “Mrs. Vause.” Instead, she hugged Alex’s new friend and patted her head like they had known each other for years rather than only an hour or so. “Just call me Dianne, kid,” she said, and Piper finally realized where Alex got the strange expression from.  
Piper and Alex and Dianne talked for a few minutes more before Piper looked down sadly. Her mother was waving impatiently from the other side of the park, already looking annoyed. “Come along now, Piper,” she called. 

The little girl was really sad. Not fake sad, though, like when she had to be fake sad because Natalie Jones couldn’t come over to play, according to her mother. Natalie Jones meant more to her mother than to her, which is why she was fake sad. No, this was real, honest sadness. She really, really liked Alex. She reached over and impulsively hugged her new friend tightly. Even though nothing was said, the two of them felt something pass between them. They knew they were going to be best friends.  
“Mom, can Piper come over for a sleepover?” Alex asked, her voice soft and shy like Piper hadn’t heard it.  
Dianne thought for a moment. “If it’s cool with Piper mom, and Piper of course, then sure you can, honey,” she said. Internally, she was thinking this new Piper girl would be really good for Alex.

Piper’s face lit up at that. “Of course it’s okay, Dianne!” She said exuberantly, her smile bright enough to light up the dark side of the moon. The woman smiled Kindly at the little girl who barely reached her waist as she hugged her enthusiastically around the neck.  
“Go ask your mom, kiddo,” she said warmly.

Piper didn’t need to be told twice, She ran faster than she ever had toward her mom. Carol looked livid as her daughter skidded to a halt before her.  
“Piper Elizabeth Chapman!” She started, her voice sharp as a butcher’s knife and just as deadly, at least to Piper.”What have I said about running?” She went on like that for a while. Piper had never interrupted her mom if she was being lectured, but now she found the courage somewhere to do so. “Mom, can I go to Alex’s for a sleepover?” She asked, her heart in her mouth.

Carol’s eyebrows went up so much that Piper was a little afraid that they would come off and fly away or something. Her lips tightened into a hard, disapproving line. “How dare you ask me such a thing?” She shouted, making everyone in the kindergarten playground turn to stare at her in shock. 

Suddenly, Piper’s dad and Dianne walked over. “I don’t see why Piper can’t go to Alex’s house,” Bill interjected. Piper loved her father more than anything at that moment. After the three adults conversed in the corner, they came back. Carol nodded. That was it. Piper’s squeals could have been heard all the way to the moon. Today was only orientation, so Piper would be going home with her father. Her mother had apparently been invited to a party with her friend Marguerite. As Piper sat in the booster seat with her father’s Beatles record playing in the car, she felt butterflies of anticipation trying to beat their way out of her chest and belly. She couldn't wait for Friday to roll around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, hope you enjoy it. Leave comment and kudos. Thanks a million to the people who left a kudos and a bookmark. Also, wow, 81 hits last I checked???? Whaaaat!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!! Keep on living and keep on smiling. :)


	3. The Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some fluff. Please enjoy.

Before either of then knew it, Friday came upon them and they were getting ready for the sleepover in their own way. The whole day at school, Alex kept whispering to Piper when they were supposed to be working on their workbooks. Piper kept shooting Miss Nancy, their teacher, furtive looks over Alex’s head, but she was also a little exhilarated to be knowingly breaking the rules like this. She found herself really enjoying spending time with and talking to Alex. The black-haired girl made her feel things she had never really felt before. When she and Natalie played together, it was something frilly and not at all what Piper liked. With Alex, though, it was different. They talked about everything and nothing at all. Alex was really, really smart for her age, and it helped that she had a mom who trusted her and told her stuff. In the corner of the playground during recess, Piper Chapman listened raptly as Alex Vause spun a web of truths about the world that Piper didn’t know about before meeting the other girl. In short, Alex made Piper laugh. 

 

Now, Piper paced in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom, her palms feeling sweaty for a reason unknown to the blonde. Her mother mussed and fussed with her daughter’s pigtails and brand-new pink dress with polka dots all over it. She wanted these nobodies to envy her daughter. Usually, the little girl just went along with her mother’s primping and prodding of her, but for some unidentifiable reason, she didn’t really care now. She just wanted Alex to like her. That was it.

Carol drove silently and sulkily to the address Dianne Vause had given her. She did not like this family. They only had one bathroom, for one. Secondly, they all shared it. Alex and her mom lived paycheck to paycheck. Which was a big reason that Carol Chapman looked down on them with disdain. What could they give her daughter? Status? No. Fame? Absolutely not. Drugs and diseases, maybe. Years later, Piper and Alex would theorize that it had been jealousy that had fueled Carol’s dislike and/or resentment of Dianne Vause for a while.  
“I’m so excited, delighted, elated to be here,” Piper sang quietly, more to herself than to her mom, but of course Carol heard. “Oh, Piper, for heaven’s sake!” She scolded. “Children are meant to be seen and not heard.”  
Piper stayed quiet after that, all the way to Alex’s house.

Then the floodgates burst open with a vengeance. The five-year-old squealed and jumped out of the car before it had completely ground to a halt. Her mother’s face was colored with a mixture of fury and embarrassment as she followed her daughter out of the car. By the time the older woman came close to her daughter, Piper was already halfway up the stairs to Alex’s apartment. She had asked her dad to tell her the address, so that she could insert it into her daydreams of what her best friend’s house looked like. Her dad had explained that it was an apartment and he had told her how the elevator worked. The little girl had filed the information away somewhere and used it in her musings.

Now, the knowledge was useful in a whole other, far more practical way as Piper successfully evaded her mom. Carol’s eyebrows were so high now that they had literally disappeared into her hairline.

“Piper, what possessed you!” She tried to scold, but the effect was broken by her shortness of breath. At that moment, just as Carol was about to fire up on one of her famously long and grating tirades, the door flew open. Alex stood on the other side of it, her black hair a tousled mess and her blue overalls slightly stained with what looked like paint. Carol’s lips flattened into a tight line, which was surprisingly thing, even with her countless lip injections.  
“Hello, Alexandra,” she said as she gave the little girl a once-over. Alex shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. She really, really, really, really liked Piper, but she wasn’t so sure about her mom. “Hi, Miss Chapman,” she said. She did not bother to correct this woman and say it was Alex, not Alexandra. She didn’t want to take a chance that she might not let Piper come back. That would hurt too much in her chest. It might sound a little weird, but it did hurt in her chest when she thought about Piper never coming back or not being allowed to play with her.

“It’s Mrs. Chapman,” Carol said stiffly, looking with utter undisguised disdain at the apartment and its furnishings.

 

After all the uncomfortable staring and the strained silence, Piper broke it in the manner that would eventually become utterly Piper. “Hi, Lexie,” she almost shouted, her face breaking into a huge smile. The other girl also did not bother to correct her friend, but that was for a reason neither of them could name for a long time.

Dianne hugged Piper after her mom had driven away. “Welcome to our place, Piper,” she said warmly. Unlike her mom, who had stared at the shabby quarters with a disgusted look, the tiny blonde was looking around with complete awe, fascination, and wonder at her surroundings. She couldn’t believe how different Alex’s home was from hers. Her friend really lived here? It was magical! It wasn’t all perfect like a picture from a magazine or anything. It looked like a real live home, not some model of a house. It was messy and perfectly imperfect.

“It’s awesome!” Piper squeaked, a word she had learned from Alex, along with a whole list of others. Dianne grinned and Alex wore a relieved smile. She had kind of been afraid that her new best friend would not like where she lived. Piper came from a house with lots and lots of money, and she wouldn’t have any interest in being Alex’s friend after she found out where the other girl lived and how poor she was. Instead, though, Piper was having the exact opposite reaction. Alex had met girls like Piper, who came from rich, important families, but Piper was different.

Dianne was awesome, Piper learned that day. She let them stay up as long as they wanted and she made ice cream sandwiches out of graham crackers, vanilla ice cream, and marshmallows. Alex told her spellbound friend stories of camping with just a tent, matches and flashlights. When Piper had gone camping the year before, it had involved airtight little rubber houses and electric stoves. They played card games and messed with Dianne’s collection of tapes, records, and CD’s. They listened to the radio. Alex read to Piper from her favorite book, Harry Potter. Piper had only read picture books and classics that her parents had read to her, expecting her to just understand it without any explanation whatsoever. Dianne was different though, just like Alex. She explained the big words to them both, but she had to leave suddenly at six in the evening. 

“Why did your mom have to go?” Piper asked curiously, as she and Alex watched Bob’s Burgers and ate popcorn out of a bag that came from the microwave. Alex munched thoughtfully on the handful of kernels in her hand as she looked at Piper. She wondered whether or not to tell her friend the truth. She decided to just come out and say it.

“My mom works two jobs,” she confessed softly, looking a little afraid. “She’s got two hours or something like that after she picks me up from school, but then she works till two in the morning.”

The other girl’s jaw dropped in surprise. “Oh, Is that why she looks really tired?” She asked, receiving a nod of agreement. Piper nodded too, then reached out and hugged Alex tightly around the neck. “YOu’re my best friend, Alex. You’re my most favoritest person ever,” she said honestly and sincerely.  
Alex felt her eyes water. “You’re the only one who gets to call me Lexie,” she answered, then thought for a moment in silence before continuing. “You’re my best friend too, Pipes,” she added.

Piper felt a tear of happiness roll down her cheek, and the warmth of Alex’s hand wiping it away, her touch gentle and light and tender in a way. “You’re the only one who gets to call me Pipes,” she replied, her voice thick with emotion. Alex nodded. “Okay, pipes. Do I get to call you Pipe Cleaner?” She joked, making the two of them burst out into laughter. Even years and years later, Piper would marvel at how Alex could still shift from playful to serious and how she could still make her feel so alive and contented and settled all at once. But for now, the two of them played and talked on into the early morning hours, not really understanding the bond that was forming between them, linking them inevitably.


	4. First Time At Piper's House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title is self-explanatory. Please enjoy. :)

It had been a few months since Alex and Piper had become really friends. They had slept over at Alex’s whenever they could, on weekends, starting with Friday nights. They would fill up on the food that Dianne brought back from her job as a waitress, then Piper would sometimes fall asleep against Alex’s shoulder as they watched whatever looked interesting on the TV. Piper especially liked when Alex was the one to drift off against her. Dianne would smile when she got back and gently arrange them side by side in Alex’s twin bed, her smile warm. She loved Piper like another daughter, and it was clear to anyone who looked that the young girl felt the same about her best friend’s mom.

It was on one of these coveted sleepovers that Piper brought up the idea. They were playing a guessing game of trivia. “He was a character who had a scar on his head,” Alex said. Piper glared playfully at her friend. “No fair, Lexie. That’s too easy. Harry Potter!” She exclaimed, her heart warming at Alex’s laughter. “Maybe I like letting you win, Pipes,” she answered, reaching out and twisting a lock of her best friend’s blonde hair around her fingers.

“My turn,” Piper said as she scrunched up her face in a thoughtful expression. Alex smiled at the look. She found herself captivated by the smallest things her friend did. She liked watching Piper make faces and move her hair out of her face. She liked just watching Piper, period.

The little blonde’s voice broke her reverie. “This character is the fastest man alive.” Piper’s eyes sparkled with mischief.  
Alex grinned. “That’s easy, Pipes. The Flash!” She fired back, making Piper grin and hug her tight. “Now you know how it feels, Lexie,” she teased, ruffling her friend’s soft hair. Suddenly, piper’s face turned a little more serious. “Alex, can you come over to my house?” She asked, her expression curious.

The other girl felt her heart turn over in her chest. Fear pulsed through her. She was afraid that Piper’s parents wouldn’t like her. They already did not seem to like her, after all. Alex was not stupid. Also, Piper’s house would probably have lots and lots of breakable things in it. If something broke, they might blame Alex and make her mom pay for the damage. Alex knew, even at that young age, just how poor they really were. Her mom could barely afford to provide for the two of them. She certainly couldn’t afford to pay for extra things like damage.

Piper immediately noticed her friend’s distress. This would be the case for the rest of their lives, them being so attuned to each other. She reached out now and hugged Alex tightly to her. Even though the black-haired girl was a tiny bit taller than her, she still fit perfectly against Piper’s side.  
“It’s okay, Lexie. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” she said softly into the other girl’s ear. “I promise nothing bad will happen.”  
Alex nodded, then steeled herself. She gathered up all of her resolve and courage and bravery and hugged her best friend. “I’ll come over,” she said resolutely, her eyes glinting. There was a spark of determination there that would shine on through the entirety of their lives. It would grow to infuriate Piper and make her fall in love with Alex all at once. Now, though, Piper clapped her hands with unbridled and undisguised glee. Alex would be coming over to see her house. The next Friday, after much negotiating had taken place and promises had been made, Alex Vause went over to Piper Chapman’s house for the very first time. Right when she walked through the door, she felt the heir of importance the house carried, like a blanket of richness.  
The whole place was decorated in rich golds and deep blacks and bright whites that made the young girl’s eyes hurt. Piper admitted to Alex later in the privacy of her bedroom that they hurt her eyes too, even though she lived there. The hallway was lined with expensive-looking paintings in gold and silver frames that, oddly to Alex only held blobs of color instead of pretty pictures. In the little girl’s opinion, the drawings and pictures that Piper made were way prettier.

The rest of the house was similar to the hall. The dining room was a show of splendor, with a large wooden table in the center, framed with tall dark chairs and a chandelier that shone with crystals and diamonds hanging above it. Alex looked around in awe. Whoa, she and her mom didn’t live like this. She was thankful, because she herself was not a fan of all this rich, showy stuff. It seemed Piper wasn’t either. She grabbed Alex by the hand and they ran up to Piper’s room, all the while her mom yelling “Mind your manners please, Piper!” They could also hear Piper’s dad saying softly, “They’re just kids, Carol. Calm down.”

The reason Alex knew Piper was not a big supporter of beautiful, breakable things was her room was the complete opposite of the rest of her house. She evidently didn’t share decorating taste with her parents. The room was lovingly messy, with books and paper and toys all over the place. It was neat in a way, but not as neat and squeaky clean as the majority of the house. In the corner sat something her mom would probably have never allowed: a large, soft, ragged-looking chair with the softest-looking seat. Piper immediately went over to it and flopped onto it, or rather into it. She sighed with contentment and patted the spot on the chair next to her. “Come sit, please, Lexie,” she said, her smile warm.

Alex didn’t need to be told twice. She made her way in somewhat longer strides than her friend and plopped down next to Piper, smiling when the other girl wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into her side. As previously mentioned, it was kind of awkward because Alex was just a little bit taller than Piper, but they made it work. She looked around the room. Aside from all the very intentional mess around the floor, there was, as previously noted, a kind of neatness that was cool about the place. Things were stacked in little neat piles that made no sense to Alex, though they very likely made sense to Piper.

“The books are set up depending on my favorites,” the little blonde explained as if she had been reading the other girl’s thoughts. Alex smiled. She had guessed right.   
“The chair was my Uncle Jessie’s,” Piper continued as she patted the soft cushion under them. “My mom was really mad when she found out that we got it, but my dad didn’t care. He let me keep it. My mom kept complaining but my dad wasn’t gonna change his mind.”

Alex laughed at the story. “Your dad’s really cool, Pipes,” she said truthfully. Mr. Chapman, or Billy or Will as he’d insisted Alex call him, was way more laid back than his wife. He trusted Alex and he and Dianne had gotten along from the moment they met. He really thought, privately of course, that Alex was awesome and she would be really good for his daughter.  
“Thanks, Lex,” Piper replied as she stood up and began to look for something in the neatly disorganized piles of stuff. “So is your mom.”  
She had been calling the other girl variations of her name for the past month or so. Neither of them had really planned it, and Alex seemed to be okay with it. Privately, it made her heart flip over when Piper did that, but she wasn’t about to tell the blonde that.  
Piper emerged with a small cardboard box in her hand. She sat down on the floor next to her friend and put the box between them. “Open it,” she urged, giving the black-haired girl an encouraging smile. Alex reached out and tentatively opened the lid. Inside, there was a set of trivia cards, and these seemed to be handmade by Piper. They held little pictures instead of clues. “You have to guess which character is on the card,” she explained to a confused Alex. “One person has to describe the picture and the other person guesses.”

The other girl nodded with comprehension. At Piper’s request, Alex picked a card and looked it over. “This character is yellow and small. He is wearing overalls.” Piper grinned. “A minion!” She exclaimed. Alex giggled at the expression of realization and joy on Piper’s face as they continued to play. They went on like that for quite a while. They played trivia and charades and even chased each other around the room, to Carol’s chagrin and Bill’s amusement. When Dianne came to pick Alex up, she could honestly say she had never seen her daughter looking happier. Alex, for her part, could not stop smiling on the way home. She realized Piper meant a great deal to her that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope you enjoyed that. Keep on living and keep on smiling. :)


End file.
